Vanadium oxide is a valuable material that finds utility as an electrolyte for batteries. Conventional processing methods for providing high purity vanadium oxide are time and energy consuming as well as expensive.
Heap leaching is a conventional method for economically extracting metals, such as vanadium, from low grade ores. Heap leaching simply involves piling raw ore, taken directly from an ore deposit, into very large heaps that vary in height. The heap is formed upon a prepared relatively flat base formed from a composite of materials impermeable to the leach solution. A leaching solution is introduced upon the top of the heap and percolates down through the heap. The effluent liquor passes into perforated drain pipes (situated on top of the impermeable liner and bottom of material) arranged on the surface of the base beneath the heap. The drain pipes direct the effluent liquor into pond where a pump sends the solution to a header for transport to a processing plant where the metal of interest is separated from the effluent and recovered. Because the heap drains well compared to conventional tailings pond, the heap can be left as an environmentally acceptable tailings site and any required reclamation work can be done immediately after the extraction is completed.
Because of the increased demand for vanadium oxide, there exists a need for an effective and efficient process for providing vanadium oxide in a high purity. The present invention seeks to fulfill this need and provides further related advantages.